Blue skies ahead? The Iditarod gets off to a bright start

by Dave Goldman

Updated:

Under a sun-drenched sky, a moment months in the making has finally arrived-- the official start of the Iditarod.

After an unprecedented offseason of discontent, which included a dogdoping scandal involving the sport's biggest star, the 46th running ofthe Last Great Race is back to its customary launching pad of Willow.

For nearly five months, the toughest sled dog race on the planet has takena pounding for waiting to release Dallas Seavey's name after his dogs testedpositive for tramadol following last year's race. A power struggle amidstboard has developed. There was also a scathing independent report warningthat the race's health and future were vulnerable if it did not make changes to the way it communicates with each other and its mushers.

But on Sunday, to the delight of 67 mushers, the focus was on preppingtheir teams for what is still considered one of the iconic journeys inall of sport.

"We're all here for love of the dogs, spectators too and it's just reallycool to feel all the spectators' support," said veteran musher LinwoodFiedler in the dog lot before the race.

Was the drama a distraction?

"I think, it was for me, a little bit earlier and then at some point Ifelt like I needed to train my team if I was going to get to Nome I'dbetter get to business and work with my dogs."

There are sure to be more fixes this offseason. Changes to the boardcould come. Perhaps, the implementation and handling of the entire processof the drug testing system will be addressed.

But today, all seemed right. It was about a race and its direction wasvery clear-- the trail leads to Nome.